abhorrent1:Tran's parents had divorced and moved away. She was on her own, working two jobs to support herself and her siblings.

Wait. What was the original story? They got divorced and both just abandon their kids? Isn't that illegal?

Mom moved out of state. Dad apparently worked late hours so often wasn't at home. He must have either been near minimum wage or drinking/gambling the money away that she had to work 2 jobs to make up for it. Source.

Also unusual in this case, she was supporting both her younger sister and older brother. Unless he was working as well... On that note I wonder how much mom was making that it'd take two jobs to make up for it, or if the divorce wiped out their savings, saddled dad with both custody and debt, he lost his job and had to take a lower paying one, etc...

In any case, a couple years could mean the youngest reaches an age to take a part time job and the eldest son leaves the home, reducing expenses. Given the family's ethnicity, I wonder if she was kept working while he was to concentrate on passing school with the best grades possible.

Not surprised this is the Houston Grand Opera. The HGA is one of the leaders in commissioning new operas from the hippest avant garde composers. Consequently, it is also one of the leaders in producing really crappy operas.

While she was in high school her parents divorced and moved away, effectively abandoning their three children to their own devices. Diane was working two jobs to support herself and her siblings, in addition to attending high school. Sometimes she was so exhausted that she would miss all or part of a school day, yet she managed to keep her grades high enough to be an honor student too. The judge that fined her and sentenced her to jail time did so to make an example for her, even though it was pretty obvious that she wasn't your average truant.